So what to do? Obviously here at Silex Labs we can’t do much about Flash Builder for PHP, but we do have this product that should be of interest to Zend AMF users. It’s called AmfPHP. It’s not an exact equivalent. AmfPHP’s goal is to help build Cloud Services in PHP for various client technologies and protocols including AMF; whereas Zend AMF aims to add AMF support to Zend Framework.

AmfPHP has been around since 2003, but Adobe chose to develop their own solution in collaboration with Zend. How did they stack up against each other?

Zend AMF’s advantages:

Official Adobe Product

Zend Framework Integration

Flash Builder for PHP integration

AmfPHP’s advantages:

Vast Community Support, tutorials, etc.

Service Browser

Client Code Generator for multiple client technologies

No need to code gateway, making it easier to get started

plugins

support for other protocols

Competition is good, and there was space for both products. Zend AMF will be missed! In the meantime, you can of course download amfPHP here.